Cotton-chopper.



No. 732,934. PATENTED JULY 7, 1903.

F. F. GEBDING.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1902. N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' WITNESSES INVENTEIR Q/YM-AL 1 5M ATT'Y No.73 2, 934. PATENTED JULY 7,1903.

P. F. GERDING.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPL IUATION FILED JAN. 23, 1902.

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m: mums Pnzns cu. vnow-u'mo WASHINGTON, n. c.

' useful improvements in cotton-choppers, and

Patented July '7, 1903.

* FFICE.

PATENT FRED F. GERDING, OF GROESBECK, TEXAS.

COTTON-CHOPPER.

sPnciFIuATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,934, dated July 7,1903.

Application filed-January 23, 1902. Serial No, 90,934- (No model) To allwhom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, FRED F. GERDING, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Groes beck, in the county ofLimestone and State of Texas, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ootton-0hoppers; andl do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention relates'to certain new and has for its object to produce adevice of this nature which shall be strong and durable in itsconstruction, while atthe same time being so flexible in its operationthat all of its parts may be adjusted to suit the particularrequirements of any condition of soil or growth of cotton. l

With the above andother objects in view my invention further consists inthe novel details of construction and'combination of parts to be clearlydescribed in the following forming a part of this application, and inspecification, and fully set forth in the claims. Referring to theaccompanying drawings,

which like characters of reference indicate same parts throughout theseveral views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improvedcotton-chopper witha portion of one of the spokes of traction-wheelbroken away to show the clutch mechanism. Fig. 2 is a top plan -viewthereof, with the handles broken for convenience; and Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of the chopping-wheel.

In the drawings, '1 represents a pair of traction-wheels loosely mountedon a drive-shaft 2, square in cross-section, which is rounded at itsends and journaled through bearings 3, depending from the opposite sidesof the forward end of a hollow T-shaped frame 4.

A gear-wheel 5.is rigidly mounted on the shaft 2 between the sides ofthe frames. and meshes with apinion 6, carried on the forward end of awork-shaft 7, also square in cross-section and rounded at its ends,where it is journaled in bearings 8, depending, respectively, from therear end of the frame 4.

' andlafiiifrom a cross-beam 9, extending across the frame from side toside at about midway the length of said frame.

A cutter-wheel is rigidly mounted on the work-shaft 7 and comprises aweb 10 in the shape of a disk with arc-shaped cut-away portions ateither side, a hub 11, on which the web is supported, and a pair ofacute tri angular cutter blades or hoes 12, bent to lie [close againstthe peripheral flanges of the Web with one long edge sharpened and theother long edge adjustably secured to the peripheral flanges of the webby bolts 13, passing through perforations 14 of the blades, theperforations in the pointed end of the blade being circular to fit thebolts passing therethrough and the other perforations being elongatedslots, in which their bolts may move to permit the swinging of theblades on the first-named bolts in adjusting the position of said bladesto vary their cut, as hereinafter explained.

A clutch mechanism is provided for each traction-wheel to enable theparts just described to be driven by the motion of the machine, and asthese are similar in construction a description of one will suffice. Thehub 15 of the traction-wheel is shouldered to form one member of theclutch, and a correspondingly-shouldcred sleeve 16 is mounted on thesquare shaft 2, so as to be slidable thereon, but being incapable ofturning independently of said shaft 2.- A yoke 17 has its depending armssliding in an annular groove of the sleeve 16, and its upper end iscarried by a rack bar 18, sliding within a housing 19 on the frame 4, soas to mesh with and be reciprocated by a gear-crank 20 to open and closethe clutch by the operation of said gear-crank 20. A handle 21 ispivoted to the free end of the gear-crank 20 and extends along the rearpart of the frame, where it is supported in suitable guides 22 to withinreach of operator. When the clutches are closed, the shaft 2 is rotatedwith the traction-wheels and drives the cutter-wheel by means of thegear connection therewith.

A pair of cultivator plow-points 23 are mounted on separate beams 24 andeach is provided with its handle 25 and is pivoted to the rear of theframe l by means of the doubleaction hinges 26, which permit anindependent vertical or horizontal swing of either plow.

Curved metal drags or guide-shoes 27 extend upward through brackets 28on the shoulders of the frame 4, where they are adjustground to scrapeofi any dirt adhering thereto.

To the front end of the frame 4C a forked connection 31 is mounted on arod 32, to which its ends are rigidly connected, and this rod 32 is freeto turn in the frame 4, except when the eccentric clamps 33 are engagedwith the enlarged knobs 34 on the ends of said rod 32, when theconnection 31 is held in any adjusted position.

A pair of disk cultivators 35 are mounted on crank-rods 36, whichproject beneath the machine, having their upper ends adj ustably securedto the frame by bolted clamp-plates 3'7, and these disks 35 are for thepurpose of cutting and removing dirt and grass from the sides of the rowof cotton.

The machine is drawn by a team of horses hitched to the connection 31,and on going to and from the field the clutches are thrown out ofconnection, so that the cutting mechanism is inactive, and the handles25 are swung up on their hinges 26 to lie on top of the machine. In thefield the machine is set so that the wheels straddle a row of cotton,the drag-shoes 27 are adjust-ed vertically to determine the depth of cutof the blades 12, and the clutches are connected,-when a for- Wardmovement of the machine rotates the cutter-wheel, causing the two bladesto cut the cotton from the row in small furrows, leaving patches orstands of cotton therebetween. To regulate the amount of cotton cut byeach revolution of the cutter-wheel, the

bolts of the blades are loosened and the blades swung thereon fartherfront or back, as the case may be.

An advantage of the independent plows 23, mounted on the double-actionhinges 26, is that these parts can be moved by the operator, as it suitshis pleasure, to follow crooked rows of cotton, to escape obstructions,and for dropping trash which accumulates thereon.

As will be seen from the drawings, the gearing is such as to cause thecutter-blades to rotate with their acute angles or points foremost, andas their front edge is sharpened they cut with a shearing action, due tothe incline of the cutting edge and the forward motion of the machine.

The hoes 12 can be set so as to cut out all of the cotton or to leaveenough cotton standing to secure a good crop, usually about four inches.N ow to double the distance,which will be from six to ten inches betweenstands, one of the hoes is moved forward. Then this hoe will cut outevery alternate stand, leaving the stands double the distance apart.

Having fully described my invention in dB". tail, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

.1. In a cotton-chopper, a cutter-wheel mounted to rotate transverselyto the direction of motion of the machine, comprising a disk-shaped webwith peripheral flanges and cut-away portions in its periphery, a hub onwhich the web is supported, and triangular cutter-blades pivoted at oneangle to the peripheral flange and adj ustably secured at another angleto the peripheral flange.

2, In a cotton-chopper, a hollow T-shaped frame, a drive-shaftjournal'ed across the stem or front portion of the frame, a pair oftraction-wheels mounted on the drive-shaft and located at the sides ofthe stem portion of the frame, a work-shaft journaled lengthwise of theframe and receiving motion from the drive-shaft, a cutter-wheel mountedon the work-shaft to rotate within the hollow head or cross portion ofthe frame, and guide-shoes adjustably clamped to the shoulders or thefront edges of the cross portions of the frame.

3. In a cotton-chopper, a hollow T-shaped frame, a drive-shaft journaledacross the stem or front portion of the frame, a pair of traction-wheelsmounted on the drive-shaft and located at the sides of the stem portionof the frame, a work-shaft journaled lengthwise of the frameandreceiving motion from the drive-shaft, a cutter-wheel mounted on thework-shaft to rotate within the hollow head or cross portion of theframe, and a scraper mounted on the shoulder or front edge of the crossportion of the frame to brush against the cutter-blades as they pass.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED F. GERDING.

\Vitnesses:

A. J. HARPER, I. D. BELL.

